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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

I will write this review in English, despite in being an Italian movie, because I would like to propose it to wider audiences out there. I do not think that I will be the one to break this movie to big circles, I trust that most have already come across it, nonetheless, if you haven't and want to, this review might help you get interested!Scriverò questo post in inglese, perché voglio raccomandare questo film a più persone possibili! E comunque non penso che ci sia bisogno che lo introduca agli italiani!

Seven long-time friends get together for a dinner. When they decide to share with each other the content of every text message, email and phone call they receive, many secrets start to unveil and the equilibrium trembles.

I had to watch this movie for an exam and I am so happy that I did! Without going into too much detail, I wanted to reflect on a couple of things that got my attention, and the particular reason why I liked this movie so much. As each person's secret starts to come to light, you realize that these people have been lying to themselves more than anyone else. Saying it is OK, that they are doing it to not hurt others, that their intentions were pure, or simply to make life a bit more interesting... these are all excuses. When they are faced with their secrets, they also have to face the real person that they are, it is not just a revelation to their friends and loved ones, but really a mirror that they were trying to avoid. What amazes me in people is our ability to make ourselves believe that what we are doing is alright, even if deep down we know it isn't. One's ability to ignore their own faults amazes me up to today.

The ending of the movie, in my opinion, reflects the fact that certain circles and patterns are going to repeat themselves simply because of the people we are. If we keep blinding ourselves to the truth, we will never be able to change our ways. I find that these people are caught in an endless loop of their own unwillingness to change the problems around them. However, an outside viewer might learn from their mistakes and find that the only one of the seven, the one who decides to leave this toxic environment, might be an example to follow in our own lives.

Watch it? Most definitely. Wonderful dialogue, wrapped in a perfect italian cultural blanket, made to touch every single viewer out there, and it does so with tremendous success!

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Over ten years ago I wrote my first blog post ever and it was about Mamma Mia! The Musical, as it was touring around Europe and they visited our little country and I just fell in love with it. The following summer the movie came out and despite them leaving out my favorite songs of all time... it quickly became my favorite movie. You can read my reviews here:

Here we are, ten years after I wrote that post, and the immense success of the movie yielded a sequel, to which all the stars from the first movie agreed to. I gotta say, I was skeptical at first, because after realizing who it was that they decided to cut from the movie I shivered a bit, but as the first song started to play I was along for the ride!

Sophie decides to reopen her mother's dream hotel as she now has the experience and the money for it, but she puts a great deal of pressure onto it. As she questions how did her mom find this place to begin with, we are acquainted with a young Donna and her summer of romance, when she met Harry, Bill and Sam. Not only do we learn how Donna decided to stay on this little patch of paradise, but how Sophie's true dream becomes that of continuing in her mom's legacy, in the only home they have ever known.

I need to be honest, I am mad at this movie. It was, in my opinion, a comma away from perfection. You can see that they knew their source material, they knew what they wanted, what story they wanted to tell. But the forgot something very important... I don't care about the minor details (like Harry's guitar missing...), what bothered me is the grandmother's role. All we know about her is that, to quote Donna from the first movie, "She told me not to bother going home", and in this one: she misses her graduation and then Sophie realizes there is no point in inviting her to the reopening because "She won't come anyway"... everything points to her being this horrible person, and then Cher appears, she sings and that is it. I cannot shake the feeling that there was a deleted scene somewhere, but I was missing it a great deal! One, "Hey I was a bad mother, I missed too much." really would have set my soul at ease. And well, SPOILER, but as Donna dies, my sister pointed out, did she miss her daughter's funeral? Grandma was not invited for a reason, and after she shows up, I was missing some kind of explanation as to why we are suddenly OK with her being here. Actually, she has a memory of this place, and it would have been fun to point out that it was her mom's stories that made Donna come here. The "catholic guilt" mentioned in the first story was nowhere to be found when looking at the the grandmother and I just didn't get it... they either deleted scenes or simply assumed that Cher's presence would be enough to make us not notice... I dunno.

And the reason I was so mad about this is because it is otherwise a wonderful movie! They used the songs they cut from the first movie version originally in magnificent ways, they managed to write a whole new story with songs we know and love and you get the same happy feeling that the original gave. They managed to write a story that makes sense both prequel and sequel-wise! And then the grandmother's storyline made me very unsatisfied... I would also like to be rude here and add, that I was not very touched by the young actors chosen to play the dads... None of them really got me to understand why Donna would care for any of them, and well... OK, I really don't want to be rude, but they just didn't do it for me and so far none of my friend's either (the long hair was not necessarily a good choice). My final note would be the lead actress, whom I liked very much, but I never understand why they don't cast Meryl Streep's daughters to play young versions of her... they are super talented and they look exactly like their mom! Such a wasted opportunity...

That having been said, I am myself shocked at how much I loved this movie. Every second of it. The writing was terrific, the actors were great, the selection of songs made me weep through half of the movie like a little baby, and the whole thing just got me nostalgic for summer romances and the magic of beaches, and music, and sand and that salty water in the air!

Watch it? Definitely! If this song won't get you interested, nothing will!

Thursday, July 19, 2018

I am a huge fan of David Wain, which you might know of because a few years back I wrote an entry in regards to his works, mostly focused on Wet Hot American Summer and Childrens Hospital, which you can read here! Since then I have also been a fan of Another Period, in which he is acting, and I look for anything that comes from his pen onto the screen.

Joel and Molly recount the story of how they met and decided to break up whilst living through a series of romantic comedy clichés that every person knows by heart by now.

I just loved this movie. Again, this is something I have complained about quite a lot, people don't seem to understand quality comedy anymore. Think of timeless movies like Airplane!, Top Secret, Hot Shots!, or The Naked Gun: what makes them so great? The fact that they parody things we all know. They are all about specific genres and not just flicks, no, they work on stereotypes, on story-lines that have marked movie history, telenovelas, and everything of the sort. They are ultimately made for all audiences. It is the same with this movie, it works with things we all know, it isn't specifically one rom-com that it wishes to make fun of, and if you don't know that movie, you won't understand the jokes either. Think of Spaceballs: it focuses on specific movies, from Star Wars to Alien, and I personally understood the jokes because someone told me what they are about. Does it still work? Yes, because it has other instances and wonderful writing that connects the parodic elements. Timeless? Yes, still applies.

This movie is fun simply because it is. There are call back jokes to the previous Wain/Showalter projects, as well as callbacks to this movie in their other projects too. And what is striking is there are just wonderful actors in it. These two know most of Hollywood already, still, it cannot be forgotten that most movies that have A list actors suck ass because the writers hope that the mess they wrote will go away simply by having famous people in it, but that is not the case here. They made sure the writing was done before they started casting people, you can tell. I will be forever grateful for these writers.

Watch it? Yes please, the rating is stupid. If you are a fan of any of the actors involved in this project, or a fan of Wet Hot American Summer, you are bound to love this movie too! And each time I rewatch it it gives me something more to discover.

Thursday, July 12, 2018

I have been waiting for this movie since the minute they announced it. My best friend introduced me to the original remake series with George Clooney, and I wanted so bad to see it with him, so we watched it to celebrate our final state exams from university.

Once released out of prison, Debbie Ocean decides to do a big job in order to get revenge on the person that put her into prison. She requires a crew of eight in order to be able to pull off a jewelery heist she had been planning for five years. Not only does she get what she wants, but she does that with style!

The moment Sandra Bullock comes on screen I just lose my mind. She has to be my favorite actress, I swear, there is no one like her out there. I cannot think of one movie she has been a part of that I don't adore. I always forget somehow until I see her on the big screen and I just stare in awe. Counting, this being 8, maybe we'll have Ocean's 9 and 10, who knows? I would love that, because although it is a remake, it is essentially a new story as well, even if there are nods, conversations, returning cast members, the twist in the end and the heist itself were completely different. This story could exist without the originals and in my opinion that is what makes it a good movie.

If I had to be critical, I need to add, that I feel Cate Blanchett was incredibly underused. She is more than the character they cast her for. And honestly, I wouldn't mind if a sequel focused on her a lot more, the way it did with Brad Pitt's Rusty in Ocean's Twelve. That having been said, I cannot think of anything negative to say about the movie. It was witty, funny, creative, with great music and wonderful dialogue. I was waiting for the end of the movie because I wanted to know the twist, I wanted to see how they will surprise me and I was not disappointed!People who complain about this movie simply because it is an all women's cast... they can go f*ck themselves. I love this movie and I wish they would make a lot more like it, and by a lot, I mean A LOT. This all star cast was simply the best thing I could ask for. I hope I will see these ladies in other adventures as well.

Watch it? Dear god yes! Go go go! I can't believe the bad ratings, I mean what the fuck is wrong with people, seriously? How does someone not recognize a good movie when they see it? What is the point of going in with expectations if you don't allow them to fade away at the thought of enjoying a story? This is a great movie. I can't wait to see it again!

Friday, July 6, 2018

It is pride in Budapest this Saturday, July 7th 2018. I decided to share an interview that a friend of mine did for one of her classes with a bisexual girl in regards to her sexuality on November 2, 2016. This is the transcript of their talk. I asked permission from her to share it, to share this story, because it might help someone one day – took them a long time to get where they are today, and I know that many can and will learn to love who they are just the same way.

_ _ _ _

Interviewer:
One thing I wanted to do before the ‘actual’ interview is that there’s a
possibility to choose a fake name, because I wouldn’t like to use Interviewee1,
Interviewee2, etc… and I thought you’d like to create a fake name for yourself.

Girl:
That’s nice. I’ll stick with [my name] for your assignment. Actually this is a good experiment because
I have never so far represented the LGBT community, cause (pause) I just didn't.

But
I remember back in high school I had a best friend who, uhm, who was gay. (Laughs.) And we kind of parted ways for
a lot of reasons … but, uh… The thing is that in the end I realized that it was
a good thing that we did, because I kinda hid behind him. And well my first
love was ahh… a teacher of mine actually… (giggles)
who was twice my age.

I:
And… a woman?

G:
Yes. And I was kind of like: “I’m sure
she’s the only one, and this is just a phase”. And so I kind of hid behind
my best friend in a way because I was like, “If I’m going to the Pride parade it’s because of him, because I want
the equal rights for him. And if I stand up against homophobes, it’s because of
him. I want to be good to him and so on.” And it’s not his fault; he never
knew he kind of shielded me from this. I
realized I was doing that to myself just so I wouldn't actually have to commit
to anything or, or… or be true to myself. And I remember the very night
when there was another girl who kind of got my fancy and I was like “Oh, well… this was not a phase clearly.”
(laughs). So nice try but we lost that
match. And after that, yeah, I was kind of forced to find myself. But I was
really lucky because I ended up in an environment among university friends who
not only didn't care, but some of them were people themselves who have come
out. So it was like “Nothing wrong with
that!”, and I remember my very favorite teacher at university, and I had a
talk with her about this, so I came out to her as well. I remember she was like
“But you can tell [when I look at you]”.
I laughed looking back, because I've reached the point where I don’t care: I’m
okay with me and if somebody’s interested they won’t be scared to let me know. She told me she’s
so happy that the English/American Department is so open, and that she has the power to
stop anybody who wishes to share hateful comments. So I actually was super, super lucky to have ended up with ELTE at the
time of my life when I had to understand me, recognize myself really.

I:
How old were you when you started to realize that it’s not just a phase
that you’re in?

G:
That’s a terribly long story actually, and I am sure I will get lost in all the details I want to include so help me back on track sometimes.I: OK.G: In elementary school they always said that “Oh, teachers in high school won’t give a
sh*t about you, they no longer care!” And that never happened to me. Same
thing they said in high school too: “University
teachers won’t give a sh*t!”. Never happened to me. I do know those kind of
university teachers who don’t give a sh*t, but that’s a good thing because I’m
a perfectionist. I thrive to be my best self, and I found that those teachers
who don’t give a f*ck, give 10%, so I allow myself to give the same amount of
sh*t they do, so I wouldn't really go overboard and do much more than it is
needed if they don’t care anyway. However,
when I find those teachers who do care, I will also put in more.And then… about my sexuality, there was
a vampire hunter book series, Anita Blake, I don’t know if you know it, I hope
you don’t…

I: No,
I don’t.

G:
Lucky you! That was “the thing to read” when I was in high school everybody
loved that. It was a very good crime novel until the 13th book,
because then it turned into a porn series and we just all quit reading it.
Because it literally lacked all the characteristics we liked about the
first ones, but the reason it got to me is that it was a brilliant mirror to contemporary debates on sexuality. So basically what you have in it are vampires who are
rioting for human rights, as in equal rights. And people say:

“- But you’re dead, why
would you want human rights?”

- But we are among the
living at night.”

And
it was actually a perfect reflection of the struggles of LGBT society today.
For example, one of the guys is a werewolf, and he is a teacher. And if people
would find out he’s a werewolf, he’d be kicked out of the school. I do know cases where a teachers were fired
because they were gay, because they might transmit it to the children or
something… so what should they do?

So
the point is that this book was a very good critique and then the same problem just came to my mind: that being a bisexual teacher if I would have a problem,
for example, if I were to teach at ELTE, or any smaller university or college in Hungary, I’d have no problem whatsoever. Nobody
would care about my business and students either wouldn't really get invested, or just gossip, but who doesn't? They’d be like “Hey, I think she’s a
lesbian.” and I’d be like “Ohhh,
we’ll never know.” And you know why that’s funny? They’d be 50% right,
soo…. (both laughing loudly).

I:
And that makes you happy.

G:
Absolutely, yes. Getting back to my teacher… I sat down and had a talk with
somebody about my feelings and they said: “Yeah,
you’re in love with her.” And I was like “I’m not… what???” And, hahaha, and at a certain point I sat down
and I was like: let’s think it over, let’s open that door. I had not realized the amount of denial I was burying myself under.
And then the [imitating gasping]
started and truly ... if I had ripped out my heart with my bare hands it would have
hurt much less than it did at the realization that “Oh, boy! I have fallen in love with this person who in the meantime had
grown to hate me”. Because not knowing exactly what the f*ck was going on
with me, me included, I was behaving very irrationally, weirdly even at times. I remember
my gay best friend went:

“- No,
you’re not in love with her.

- Trust me I am.

- Ok, but can you
imagine yourself with her?

- Yes…

- Oooh, okaaay…”

He was clearly shocked, but not more than I was at my ability to admit my true
feelings to myself out loud finally. High school sucked big time from that
point on.So one thing I learnt from this was that
I would never ever again approach something not knowing what I want or who I
am.

I:
Mhm, I get it.

G:
If somebody finds its way to my heart, they kinda gonna stay there forever.
Just giving an example: I fell in love during my bachelor years, and it wasn't meant to be between us, but if she’d call me up tomorrow with needing some help, I’ll be
there. I’m like that. And I don’t feel bad about that. I like being
me, I don’t… most people abuse somebody’s help, that’s not a very nice thing to
do, but it still happens. But why would
I have to feel bad about helping them? They should be the one to feel bad about
abusing it if they do.

I:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

G:
So I wanna be okay with me, I don’t really care about what bad karma is. What
was your question?

I:
When did you realize you were bisexual?

G:
Oh yes! Told you I'd forget... It was 2012, precisely, I took my friends to Rome and we were out one night at a restaurant and there was this one waitress called [name], and I thought that she is super
cute, and super nice and “Oh, f*ck… this
was not a phase!”. And this was the year after, after I finished high
school.

I:
Mhm. So it took quite long to realize this…

G:
Yes, yeah.

I:
Or rather to accept that this was not a phase.

G:
Not just accept, you need to understand, that for almost six years I had no
feelings for other women.

I:
I see.

G:
So two years was f*cking denial that I had feelings for someone of my same
gender, but the next two years was sheer pain. Followed by another two, where I
did not run into them finally, but I had all of these questions that kept me
sometimes up at night and I ended up being unable to move on. I just… It was
hard to cope with me while being unable to understand me.

I:
Yeah, yeah, that’s true.

G:
In the end, distance kind of helped but really the fact that… That’s where I
kinda realized if I do put somebody into my heart they stay there, is that no
matter how much time passed, without us actually talking it was still kind of
hovering over me.

I:
Mhmm, I see.

G:
And this second girl, uhm, let’s call her Leila. The difference with Leila was
that she was on board with talking to me about my feelings, my thoughts, and
that way this time around I didn’t have this crushing feeling of unresolved
issues. I didn’t blame her for not picking
me, over the other one. I mean when you have feelings for somebody, you do not
pick and choose, it doesn’t work like that. You don’t decide your feelings.

I:
Do you think it’s important for people to know that you’re bisexual, even if
you’d be with a guy?

G:
I think it’s important, because people have to realize that this is something
you’re born with. It’s not like… I hate it
when someone says that this is a choice. Who would choose to be spit on, or to be
hated? Who in the right mind would do that? And I remember I had a teacher
who was very Christian and she went “But
isn't that a choice?” and it was genuinely something she believed growing
up in a church, she didn't even take the time to think it over. She was in no way one of those bigoted idiots who skip through certain chapters of the Bible when it displeases them; she just never questioned it having grown up in a society so
religious. And then, to quote
Diana Ross “I’m coming out”, she kept on loving me for who I am, because that
is something she also took seriously, to love everyone as equals. And it was so
nice, she was sorry for asking this question. But I think people should ask it:
because most of the time it’s just the fear of the unknown.

I:
Yes. Some people just might think that I’m gay because I’m hangin’ around
people who are known to be gay. And they are surprised when I say no, I’m not.
It’s not an infection I could catch from any of them… But I think it is
important to know someone gay to really understand things. I was 16 when I met
my first gay friend, who’s a guy, and my viewpoint of the whole thing changed a
lot. I started to explore his lifestyle and what it means in his life to be
gay. And when reaching a certain point in our friendship, he opened up about
his identity, and I was absolutely okay with it. Though, I had questions which
have been answered by him for me it was no longer mysterious or “the unknown”.
But it’s important to have experience
with someone, or just to talk to someone, because if you only know heterosexual
people, you cannot really understand that it’s the same thing, the same life,
just with the exception of falling in love with the same sex.

G:
See, that’s the kind of thing with many of my friends. They have no prejudice
about anything. In high school, when you grow up with people who are open to talk about their sexuality, or just feel that there is no need to hide it, you just
think, OK, it’s completely fine. But again, you have to be in that environment,
you have to have someone like that next to you and help them feel safe.

I:
But it is also important to have some time to yourself, to experiment if it’s a
phase or not.

G:
No! It’s never just a phase. When someone says it just happened in college, or
so, there’s a reason for it. There are two reasons, in my opinion: One is curiosity and the
other is love. Love is in the brain,
love is something you cannot control, you can be 100% in love with someone and
still not be attracted to them. The other is curiosity, which yields
experimenting, but calling something a phase is a cop-out. I am not saying that
everyone has tendencies, they don’t. Some straight people are just straight, the same way that gay people are just gay, not bi or pansexual. But today we have a term for almost
everything, and you might not like labels but they help you as much as they
help others to understand you.

Being
bisexual… You always read statistics on how being bisexual is lower in guys. I
just don’t believe that. I’ll tell you why. The thing is, first of all, lately
more people have come out as bisexual. Second, I do believe that it is their
environments fault: Think of one guy, let’s call him George. George has a
girlfriend whom he loves and is genuinely turned on by, but he always ends up
checking out another guy’s butt at work constantly. He will never act on that
interest solely due to the happiness of actually being attracted to his girl
and not having to fake it. He will recite “no homo” to himself for a long time,
will get over the guy one day, but if George grew up in an environment where
gay is a pejorative word, he will never act on his interests.

When
you think about this, if two girls kiss: “Haha,
you’re drunk”. Two guys kiss: “Uuuh,
you’re gay”. And I think this is why there are less bisexuals men who are proudly wearing this label,
cause it’s really hard to find someone who’s even open enough to find out what they feel for the guy at work, after these judgments that surround them.

I:
Yeah, somehow lesbian girls are a bit more accepted. Actually I had this
question, how did people react to you coming out?

G:
First, if you follow me on facebook you probably already know. Second, my
coming out experience in the family was super good compared to what I know. We
still have little battles to fight in this department, but I don’t mind. My dad
was like: “We’re not the kinda family who
cares about this kind of things”.

I:
But it’s interesting that you’ve said you have a big family and you’re the only
one to come out…

G:
Yeah, I came out to my cousin on her
wedding when she was drunk… that was hilarious. She actually suspected it, and
as I said, I don’t really hide it anymore. She thought one of my best friends
was my girlfriend because of her short hair… so that was also a funny
discussion (laughs).

I:
(Ironically:) So speaking about
stereotypes…

G: The short hair thing? Yeah, that's super sad. I also told my brother and he was like: “Cool!”
and I went “Did you hear what I said?”. (Both laughing.) I remember when I told my
mom what was up and she was like “What
did you think we were thinking when you hung up rainbows in your room…” (laughs). Burns by your mother are truly the best.

I:
Did you have any surprising reactions? Who were more accepting?

G:
In my family again or in general?

I:
Oh, in general. I mean in the close surroundings, like family and close
friends, and so on… But I guess lots of friends just knew it from the start.

G:
(Laughing) Haha, burn.

I:
No, come on! For real.

G:
All friends reacted well, so it was very positive in that regard. Sometimes
people were surprised when we talked about it and they were like “Oh,
you play both teams!”, because they all thought I was just a lesbian (laughing), not even straight, gayness was assumed immediately. So then again we go back to the question of labeling and
I do think that is important, because I think statistically so many people feel
alone and, and, and can’t really come out. I think there has to be a
voice for them to say 'No, it’s cool, do
come out! You’re not alone, there’s so many of us'.

And
I’m lucky in retrospect that I’m bisexual. I don’t really feel that I was
born in the wrong body or anything like that. And I do have moments when I’m in
front of the mirror and I’m like “I’d hit
that”. (both laughing).

I’m
happy with who I am, and I have many battles to fight, but none with myself and
that is the most important step. I hope many will understand that and first
stop and take care of themselves. Family, friends, love, labels… everything
comes after that.